Revealed: $117m pokie profits for top Sydney pubs

Owners of the top 10 NSW pokie pubs made $117 million in pre-tax profit from the machines last financial year, new data reveals, with the biggest earning more than a quarter of a million dollars a week.

The top 25 hotels raked in $253 million in poker machine profit – or player losses – during 2016-17 for an anticipated tax take of more than $100 million for the NSW government.

NSW Greens MLC Justin Field said behind the profits there was "immeasurable harm caused to people, families and communities from poker machines".

He called for consideration of $1 bet limits and an acceleration in the overall reduction in the number of poker machines in NSW. Currently one out of every three machines traded must be forfeited to the state.

"The $252.97 million lost to addictive pokies in the top 25 hotels is no accident, these machines are designed for addiction and making profits from people and communities," Mr Field said.

"The vested interests in the hotel industry continue to push to wind back regulations on gambling. It's long past time government reined them in and put people before pokies profits."

The NSW division of the Australian Hotels Association declined to comment.

NSW Racing Minister Paul Toole said the government "is currently considering reforms to the Local Impact Assessment scheme, transparency of gaming machine information and responsible gaming initiatives."

"The government will be considering all the evidence during this process, not just numbers cherry-picked by the Greens," he said.

"The Greens are opposed to all forms of gambling for ideological reasons, and they should just come clean and admit that."